A Blind Ninja
by Tsede
Summary: Kato's unfailing loyalty to her father was a cause for concern. It was a danger to the Village, for her.  She was a weapon created by her father for his purposes. Stolen from him, Konoha hopes to give her a new life. Can Kato  change her destiny?
1. A Blind Ninja

Authors note!

I began this Fanfiction about... wow.. going on maybe five years ago. It's a little rough around the edges as I haven't really touched it since. It started off as following the plot of Naruto, but I have since stopped watching and have a vague idea of what has happened in the show haha. Even still, I felt my writing bug hit me a couple of days ago and thought maybe I would start up again. There's a lot of this one already written up, and a lot of bits and pieces from when I had inspirations and wrote. Of course I will try and those in, and you may find that after a couple of chapters the story starts to take on it's own plot line. You have to get through the first chapters first of course ;)

Anyways, I like how stories have the ability to change before they are written, So here's my challenge to my readers. I will post the first chapter of this story. From here, I will read your comments and alter what has already been written and is waiting to be posted. Maybe from here the story will take on life anew. There is a lot to improve upon with this fanfic, and I would see it bloom until it can captivate my audience. So, read, subscribe, comment and enjoy.

With out further ado, I give you A Blind Ninja.

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_It was dark again. But, it wasn't like she knew it. The world was always dark to her. She had never seen the sun before, never seen anything before, except the monotonous silver of her chakra in her eyes, and those of others. Though, she didn't know what the colours were. She didn't even know what colors were. The man who had taken her from Ai-sama had begun her pillar of support. She didn't know where her father was anymore, and so she found herself looking for some form of substitute. _

_Kato walked into the village beside her the man. She trotted beside him silently holding onto his hand. Her sightless white eyes allowed her to see through a constantly controlled stream of chakra. For her, it was effortless. Her three year old body was already at the level of a ninja five times her age, even if her mind wasn't. Around her face, her snow white hair swayed gently. She looked up at the man. Where was she? From beneath his mask, he smiled. He swiftly swung her up and onto his back. She was amazed by the amount of people in this village. Back home, there was hardly anyone. Her home was quiet and mildly damp. It was in an underground city. The perfect place for someone like her. She could feel the slight greetings that these people gave to the man carrying her. No doubt giving cheerful smiles. Her father taught her to look behind the smiles. Because behind someone's smile was a secret that you could hold to your advantage. Her father was her most precious person in the world. She wished she would be brought her back to him. He had looked sad when she went away._

"_When can I see Tou-san?" she asked quietly. The man didn't reply. He placed her on the ground and held her hand as they began to climb up some steep steps. After what seemed like forever to Kato, Kakashi stopped and pushed open a thick door. They continued to walk down a hallway and Kato could here the sounds of people talking quietly ahead of them. Her ears were far better than the man standing next to her, she though with a scrunched face. When they walked into a room, a small, aging man greeted them solemnly._

"_Kakashi, you've returned safely," the man said with a sweeping motion indicating that he should enter the room. He looked down to Kato, who stood impassively next to Kakashi. "This must be her." the old man turned and walked to the large window wall. After a long silence, he hesitantly began speaking again. "Kakashi, do you think he will come looking for her?" Kakashi glanced to Kato quickly. She seemed to have fixed her sightless gaze on the older man before her with an evident distaste, but curiosity at the same time.. _

"_He will find her eventually. But not anytime soon. She has been dropped off in so many places; her trail would have become complicated." Kakashi replied. "I think she should be safe here for a time."_

_The old man nodded grimly before making his way back toward the two._

"_When can I see Tou-san?" She asked again, this time with a bit more volume as she stared past the old man. He looked up to Kakashi, who shrugged. Kato's unfailing loyalty to her father was a cause for concern. It was in fact, a very large problem that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible, for her and the village's sake. The sooner she forgot about him and anything associated with him, the better. Even if her father didn't love her as much as he did, she was a weapon created by him for his purposes. The seal on the girl's back was a symbol of that._

_It was the seal of Tsede._

She ran blindly through the trees, desperate to reach her destination. She glance back over her shoulder and saw nothing but black. She scoffed at herself for thinking she could see otherwise. For some odd reason, even her chakra couldn't activate her potent, but sightless eyes. The desperate sense of urgency continued to pull her in this direction. She really had no idea what it was that insisted she move faster, and as her pace quickened she began to feel an ominous aura bringing itself ever so much closer to her thudding steps. She stopped and quickly tied an explosive tag to a kunai and shot it through the trees. The explosions that followed provided a means from her to "see" what was going on around her. She realized quickly that she had made a large mistake and cursed to herself. Not only had she wasted a tag and a kunai, she had given away her position. She turned to continue her quick pace. In an instant, she was flying through the trees again. She looked back again, returning her gaze and finding herself flying in the opposite direction as a malicious punch landed squarely on her face. She slammed in to a tree…

She rolled over and groaned. She opened her eyes and stared into space. That was the third time in the last week that she had had that dream.

The sun shone brightly into her room and heated her legs under the blanket. The sun was far too bright for her liking. Outside on the rooftops, the birds chirped and sang loudly while some children tormented as small cat in the alleyway across the street. She threw her blankets off and waited to hear the familiar whoosh as it hit the floor. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, then trudged toward the washroom. She looked into the mirror and ran her fingers through her messy snow-white hair. Even though she was blind and really unable to see what she really looked like, the stead stream of chakra gave her some variation of sight. Her sight was based off of chakra that she continuously ran through her eyes. She wished she could see things the way everyone else saw things, if only for a day. Even without the use of her chakra, she had been trained to see various other ways and thus had far more of an advantage than normal ninja did. But it still disappointed Kato when everyone around her chatted so carefree about what they had seen at a certain point in the day. She had trained herself to focus her the eyes each and every one of them. It made her feel slightly more normal. Though she hardly ever stared someone in the eye, she still gave quite a few ninja the jitters when she was around. She could feel the change in their demeanor and hear their change in pulse.

Her senses were far better than that stupid Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, or the Byakugan of the Hyuuga clan, even if she didn't have 360 degree vision, or the ability to copy a person's ninjustsu. In addition, she had her own Kekkei Genkai, her own bloodline limit. It was from her mother. She had the ability to 'disappear' briefly, to mask her presence for however long it suited meant she was invisible even to the byakugaan and the Sharingan. Because of this, her kekkei Genkai gave her the ability to shoot vast amounts of chakra into her opponent. First disabling him and then possibly Killing him. With this kekkei genkai, she could use any chakra she darn well pleased, with any of the elements with ease. This was who Kato was. However, Kato had a deeper, darker secret. One that she would most likely never share with anyone else. And she hated it. She hated herself and everything about her.

She tied her hair up and placed on her headband declaring her an official ninja of Konoha. Though she had only been 6 when she had first gotten it and had been far then well placed to become a chuunin. Kakashi, though, had thought it best if she stayed a gennin until she was back with people of her own age. He had said it would give her experience and more of an ability to adapt to situations and well as get to know her peers. Little did she know, it was only an excuse to keep her progress a secret. There had been word that her father had begun his search to find her again. After nine years of on again off again searches, he had begun to move around. But no one really knew why now.

Kato opened her fridge and pulled out a bento box. Kakashi had been ever so knightly to leave some spare change on the counter for a small meal for lunch. Kato gave a signature frown and ignored the pile. Kakashi had taken the some what aloof role of being her guardian, if that was what you called it. Nowadays, she pretty much lived by herself. And she refused to think of him as dad.

She sat down and began to eat quietly, pouring over a medical scroll. Kato planned on one day being able to become a medical ninja that rivaled the best medical nins out there. It was a long shot, but she believed she could do though she was completely blind, she thought that having this as a goal was something she could strive for. The real reason though, wasn't for glory or for something to accomplish herself in. It was so she could obtain the one thing she wanted more than anything in this entire world. Even without the medical jutsu, she was already pretty good at taijutsu, preferring it over genjutsu or ninjutsu any day. That was not to make the mistake that she was inept at the two, she was in fact fairly advanced in ninjutsu. But, what was the point of a genjutsu if you couldn't see what it was you were doing. And with ninjutsu, she couldn't really counter that because she couldn't see the shin obi's hands as they made the seals. So, she made it a point to better herself in other ways. She could still remember slight things about her dad, and knew that there was something big she was supposed to do only she couldn't remember what it was. She had an uneasy feeling that it would involve a choice over her new home and him. And at the moment, she didn't know which she would pick. After all, she had spent so many days with Naruto and the others that she didn't know how she could make any sort of decision like that and she could hardly remember her past, so would she give everything she had become for everything she had been?

She put down a rice ball and thought for a moment, her mind trailing away from the uncomfortable thoughts and towards something she had been thinking about the day before. Neji had seemed a bit off. Ever since she had told him that they would all be going into the chunin selection exams. He had seemed somewhat cold to her, and he was like family. She had realized that Hinata, his cousin was also participating, but she had never thought that he hated her and her family so much. It was his family too after all.

Almost as if sensing what was on her mind, the door to her apartment opened and Neji was standing there. The two were an odd couple. He had 360 degree vision, and could see through basically anything while she, had the amazing skills of a bat. Blind anyway you look at it. Despite that, they were inseparable at times, and really did consider themselves siblings. Kato never really was sure how that had happened, after all neji had made it clear when they were young that he had wanted nothing to do with her and her lack of sight. She never really noticed how close they had gotten. She would have preferred to keep hating Neji, especially when he got in moods were he would rather insult her 24/7 and tell her how "It is fate that you don't see." And "Why try so hard? You won't get very far. It's your fate to stay at the level you're at." She squeezed the rice ball in her hand in slight frustration at the memories. She wanted to crack his neck sometimes. But then again, if she did she'd lose her best friend. On the other hand, she would kick the crap out of Neji's constant "fate is everything" lectures.

Kato listened as he shut the door and quietly sat in the chair across from her. He seemed quieter today, which was odder than his reaction to her the day before. Kato usually saw a side of Neji that no one else saw, and that was in part what kept them so close. But as today was the first day of the chuunin exams, he hardly seemed there at all. With him in this sort of mood, she really didn't feel like spending time with him. He had a lot on his mind, most likely. Personally, Kato didn't really feel like dealing with this moping loser. Not again at least.

Sarutobi had allowed Kato to join Kakashi's three-man cell for the chuunin exams. At least, until they figured out where they could put her. Neji had been taken a back by this, hoping instead that Kato would be allowed to join his cell. He had been unbearable for a while after that and quite frankly, had driven the albino up the wall. As Kato watched him more carefully, she noticed that there were predominant shadows in his eyes. He was deep in thought, that was for sure, and about what, Kato could give quite a guess. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against her hand.

"Are you that eager to fight against Hinata?" Kato said bluntly. Neji's eyes flashed to her quickly before returning to the table. He shook his head as Kato stood up. Liar, she thought. She placed the half-finished bento box in the fridge and put on her vest. She walked to the door and place on her sandals, waiting for Neji. She cleared her throat and watched as he quietly stood to leave. Kato scratched her cheek before following Neji out the door. This was going to be a long day…

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This is where I will Leave off for the first chapter. Not much of a cliff hanger, and the story was a bit rushed to get into it. All the same. Leave your comments and lets get this party started!


	2. Chuunin Exams, The tenth question

Author's Note!

So this is here is the second chapter! Not my favorite bit, but whatever haha. Continue to read on and give some feedback guys! :) Let me know what you think. Any sort of criticism is good criticism.

I'm never really good at making things happen at a decent speed when it comes to stories, I find I get too impatient and what to read more as well as get to a point that I've been excited to write about. Hopefully I've been keeping your interests, and you will continue to read more!

Enjoy!

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They walked together in silence before reaching the academy. Wishing her best friend luck, she walked off to the bridge where Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were waiting. They glanced up at her with mixed reactions. Naruto began slamming questions at her left and right, while Sakura pummeled him for bothering Kato. It was interesting in this group, Kato found. Sakura was so protective of the blind girl, while Sasuke and Naruto found her to be amongst the 'must beat someday' group. She was close to all of them and had helped them out of various jams more than once the same way they did for her. Kato pulled a hood up and over her head.

The four genin walked towards the examination halls together and in silence. They were all looking forward to the challenges that were ahead of them all. They walked through the doors and found themselves situated in a group of similar genin waiting to get into the hall. Sakura had been unusually quite; Kato noticed and was sure that it had something to do with Sasuke. It always did. That poor girl tortured herself. As Kato thought about it, she couldn't help but laugh a bit. What a stupid girl, she thought fondly. Sasuke, Kato observed, was also aware of Sakura's uncharacteristically timid attitude. She watched him roll some thoughts over in his mind.

She took her attention away from her team and to her surroundings. Even without using her Chakra as eyes, she could tell that they were in a genjustsu. The origin was somewhere close by. Most likely, they were on the wrong floor or something. This type of genjutsu definitely wasn't something a normal gennin could do. She hated genjutsu. She looked over at Sasuke noting that he had noticed it as well. Sakura probably had, but would say nothing in her current state. And of course then there was Naruto, who was more than likely completely oblivious to it. Ahead of them, they could see a circle forming around a girl on the floor. Her cheek was red, most likely from getting slapped.

"What could a girl possibly hope to accomplish as a ninja?" One of the two older looking genins in front of her said with a sneer. Immediately, Sasuke walked over to them and stood between the girl and the genin. Of course Sasuke would do that. He liked asserting his 'I-am-god' attitude where ever he could. He gave an exchange that was most Sasuke like again, making sure that his condescending tone was realized very easily. Kato walked over and watched quietly. She helped the girl up, realizing it was Ten-Ten, a girl in Neji's group. Her eyes were fixed on the two in front of them. Sasuke sneered at the genin, challenging him with a hiss. A challenge the other genin accepted as he launched into an attack. Instantly, far faster than the genin or Sasuke, a boy darted between the two.

"It's best not to fight here" he said, stopping both Sasuke's kick as well as the others. Sasuke stared on amazement. Kato could hear the impact of both bone-jarring kicks and had one of those moments when she wished she could see what was happening.

"How did you manage to stop that?' He asked before standing straight up and crossing his arms.

"Lee." Came a deep voice from behind the crowd. Parting, the crowd turned and saw Neji standing there. Neji stared at Sasuke before calmly asking his name.

"It is common courtesy to say your name before asking for someone else's. " Sasuke turned her head slightly, trying to discern Neji's reaction. Neji was quiet for a moment before shaking his head. Kato smiled. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Neji was bound to be annoyed at that for a while.

"My name is Neji Hyuuga." He said. Sasuke nodded his head in disinterest before saying his own name. Kato watited again for Neji's reaction as Sasuke turned and stood in front of Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke turned to Kato, who now found herself face to face with the older Genin.

"And what about you girl?" The older genin sneered, completely ignoring TenTen and the others and focusing on the albino. " Do you think you'll be able to be a ninja looking like that?" Kato smiled slightly, her white eyes shifting to the guy. Here it goes again. She tried not to let the slight bit of annoyance slip into her voice.

"What does appearance have to do with being a ninja? " She queried, walking toward an annoyed Naruto. "You should know the answer to that one." Naruto smirked at the guy an attempted to hit a high five to Kato, who ignored him.

"Why are we wasting our time here? It's quite obvious that there is a genjutsu around this area." Sasuke said loudly. "You must have picked it up right away, right Sakura?" Sakura looked up from the floor.

"Wh-? I mean, yes!" She said happily after some brief hesitation.. "The jutsu is around the examination room. We're on the wrong floor!" Kato smiled at Sakura, encouraging her. A murmur rose from the genin around them as they too realized that there was a genjutsu in place.

Kato stood behind Naruto and Sasuke as they pushed open the doors to the real examination room. Naruto rushed in.

" My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to beat all of you Dattebayo!" He yelled happily. Sakura punched Naruto in the head and Kato brushed past the two of them.

" Idiot! Shut up!" Sakura yelled angrily, her face red with embarrassment. Kato glanced around the room from underneath her hood. There were various different ninja here, including the ten of them from Konoha. Behind her, she could hear Sakura and Naruto continue to bicker. This in turn drew some curious, or disgusted glares from other ninja. None of them gave off an air of being particularly strong, which was somewhat of a let down to Sasuke whom she noticed was eagerly glancing about. Well, none of the other ninja that was. She saw a flash of red hair and froze for a minute. Who was that? She could only see the top of the red hair. She took a step forward. Ai…..? She thought. Though the name produced a fuzzy memory, she found herself fingering the pendant around her neck. That necklace was the only proof that he had really existed. Man, she sucked at remembering. She turned around only to have someone crash into her, falling to his knees and puking.

"Are you alright?" She asked, looking up and cringing in slight pain as she heard the loud sound blast. She glanced up, her hood falling to her shoulders and revealing her white hair. Standing with what appeared to be a smirk were ninja from the village of somewhere. Kato took a step foreword, barring the frightened Naruto form doing anything stupid.

" We would prefer it if you didn't do the again." The sound ninja closest to her took a step forward, holding his metal covered arm out in front of him menacingly. Kato slowly eased the chakra to her eyes in order to see him. She looked at his forhead protecter. A sound ninja.

" Oh?" he sneered. Kato smiled slightly. She may have given the appearance of being calm, but this person was really creepy and was giving her the shivers. And since his head was covered in bandages, it added to that certain creepiness factor.

" Yes." For a moment, the ninja stopped. He took a careful glance at Kato's face and realized that she wasn't staring into his eyes, but rather out into space. " Don't think that because I'm blind, I can't still fight. I could beat you in-"

" Look, we don't want any trouble." The man on the ground cut in as he wiped his chin and stood up. Something about him seemed really familiar. She watched as the man walked in front of her and pushed the sound ninja's arm down while giving a small smile. After a tense moment, the ninja walked away with his team-mates. The man turned around. He glanced at Kato quickly before looking at Naruto and patting his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm alright." He said. He gave another glance to Kato. " My name is Kabuto. This is my fifth time in this exam, so I'm hoping to pass it this time." Kato felt a jolt run through her body. She had known someone with a similar name. Kabuto huh… She turned around and walked away. She couldn't see the red hair anymore and that kind of upset her. She really did want to see who the person was. There was perhaps a 17% chance that that person had been Ai. She didn't really like the odds of it, but odds were odds.

The person at the front of the class cleared his throat, demanding the full attention of all present. All of the candidates were told to take their assigned seats and wait further instructions. A proctor came over to Kato and told her that she was now assigned to a group of two other girls who came in late. Both were from Konoha and were quite older than Kato. They greeted her kindly enough, but Kato soon realized that they wondered how well she would be able to do with her obvious disability. She told them not to worry and that she was far better than she looked. It really grated her nerves when people acted this way. She wished she wasn't blind. She wanted to know what the world looked like through everyone else's eyes. Kato spied the other two women as they gave Kato another looked and relaxed. Kato did look more than capable. She sat in her seat next to a blonde haired girl with an enormous fan and a boy wearing a water suit.

They were all given the instructions to the exam, as well as a warning. There were to be ten questions, nine of which were on the papers in front of them. At the end of an hour, the tenth question would be placed on the board. Points could be accumulated with the correct answers, with incorrect answers being deducted. If a cell had more than ten points wrong, they failed. If any member of the team was caught cheating, they were failed as well as the rest of the squad. When the examiner, Ibaki, announced the exam to start, Kato was thinking quickly. The questions on this exam sheet were far beyond her knowledge. She knew the correct answers, but not in the detail that was required. She twirled her pencil in her hand. This would be problematic. It frustrated Kato. Why would Ibuki be giving a written examination to a grouped of ninja, training to kill people? What was the point. Kato glanced around. A lot of the other candidates were also stumped, a few peeking glances at others sheets. She was tempted to as well, but a quick look to the proctors, and Kato could see the chakra in their hands whirring. The proctors were busy writing down furiously on their clipboards. That's when Kato realized something. Ibuki had said if they had been caught cheating three times, they would fail. If they were caught….She gave a smile. If they were caught three times they would fail. Three times to fail. Three chances to be caught cheating. They expected the students to cheat, but how? Kato closed her eyes and let her chakra ramble about. This was one way she could see. Around her, others were getting the hints as well. It made sense. Why else would the questions be ones that no one here could answer, save for the few like Sakura that were bookworms.

Kato cut off the flow of chakra to her eyes. As they room began to go black, she felt around for her pencil. She was good at pretending she was blind. Well, she was, but she could still see with the help of chakra. The proctors most likely wouldn't be paying to much attention to her at the moment. After all, how much could a blind girl do in the art of cheating. Well, unless they were Neji and his Byakugan, they wouldn't be able to notice the ever so small amounts of chakra she was sending through the room. She could feel Neji give a small glance in her direction as she spread her vision throughout the room. Naruto had been caught trying to cheat once, while Hinata had been given a small note in her attempt to help him. She could see the other names on the proctor's sheets as they scribbled down names of people that were caught and sent out. She didn't want those so she continued her search for the answers. She smiled as she eased Chakra to her eyes and kept her focus on one person in particular. It was easy enough to just go to Neji or Sakura, but why take the easy way out. She had found the proctor in the midst of the students. The one that knew the correct answers. Within five minutes of finding him, she had completely copied his paper. She eased her chakra back to her and leaned back. Her paper was flipped and her pencil to the side. She was finished, and faster that that stupid girl beside her. The girl, moments later, dropped her pencil and glance downs the rows. Kato meanwhile, played with the earring in her lip. Ten minutes left until the tenth question was written. She contemplated the odds of the question having something to do with observing while they had been gathering the answers. There was a high probability that they would have to explain something about something that happened during that point of the exam. She tried to replay the events of everything that had occurred since the beginning of his exam, but found that she couldn't really remember anything in particular. This frustrated Kato even more than the paper had at the beginning. Five minutes. Her sensitive hearing could hear the scribbling of the pencils increase. She wondered if Sasuke and Naruto had figured it out. Sasuke had probably used the Sharingan but Naruto... Well, she hoped that Naruto wasn't so stupid that he wouldn't figure out the answer. Poor kid was just about as smart as a rock. Thirty seconds. Twenty. She wondered if this tenth question would be the end for her. She hoped not. Ten seconds. Five. Four. Three. Two.

" It's now time to give the tenth question." Ibuki said from the front of the class. " But of course, there is a catch to this question. This last question is a do or die question.-" Kato closed her eyes. It really might be the end for her. "- If you get this question wrong, you fail the exam. But not only that, you're two team mates will as well. And on top of that, you will be barred from ever trying this exam again." There was a silence in the room as people thought about what had just been said. Ibuki glanced around the room. "Those of you who want to try again next time, and don't want to stay a genin forever, just raise your hand and you can leave." Kato crossed her arms. There was no way in hell she was going to just up and leave. She had a reason for aspiring to become the greatest ninja here. She was bound to find her father. Failing was not an option for her. She glanced around. The amount of people in this room was dropping like flies. People were leaving left and right. She saw Sakura hesitating with her hand as she glanced over to Naruto. Kato could tell she was thinking of giving up so that Naruto wasn't ever barred from raising his goals. Stupid Sakura. Even with her good intentions, Naruto would refuse to leave or forgive her for giving up. She took a quick glance to the other two members of her team. Though hesitant, they weren't going to raise their hands. Just as Sakura had raised her hands half way, Naruto's hand rose. Kato nearly fell from her chair. She grabbed the end of the table, catching an annoyed glare from the girl next to her. What was he thinking? Where was Naruto's will and stupidity to go through with this? Naruto grinned then, and slammed his hand on the table with a loud smack.

" I'm never going to give up. My ninja path is to climb higher. I'm not afraid of a stupid question so give it to me! I will **never **give up." He yelled fancifully. Kato couldn't help but grin. That was Naruto for you. The "Never give up and never surrender" attitude. Kato leaned against her hand. She had freaked out for

"Idiot" she muttered to herself. Ibuki stood at the front of the room with a wicked grin. He looked around the room, counting the amount of candidates he had left.

" Well, if you are all sure this is what you've decided." He said loudly and seriously. " If you're sure this is your decision, then I have no choice but to tell you that you've all passed." Once again, the room was silent. Everyone was dumbstruck. Kato broke the pencil in her hand angrily, letting it fall to the table with a clatter that broke the silence.

" We've passed huh?" she said with a bit of annoyance. " That's it. We passed. You could have made it a little more interesting." The people around her turned and stared. Kato was still leaning on her hand, with a scowl on her pretty face while she twirled one end of the broken pencil. Ibuki glanced up at her.

" I believe that everything here, everything that was tested in the examination, was highly called for. Being a ninja is not something that guarantees your life young lady. If you're sloppy, it could result in the death of your comrades. If you cannot gather information properly-"

" I never said that there was anything wrong with this examination." Kato challenged coolly. " What I am implying is that there could have been far more thorough methods of assessing our skills."

Ibuki nodded.

" I'm sure there are. But as I am the proctor for this exam, I am the one that decides how it is run." He replied with a smile. Around the room, people had begun to break from their initial surprise.

" What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked quickly. " Are we still going to have the tenth question?" Many of the ninja in the room murmured in agreement.

" You've already answered the tenth question." He aid simply. " The tenth question was asked when I gave you the choice of leaving, or staying. You cannot be a true ninja if you always choose the easiest ways out of a problem. Through trial and error, a ninja is able to find the best methods suited for a specific problem." He raised a hand to his head and began to untie his bandana. " If a ninja is sloppy when gathering information, it can result in horrendous problems." He removed his forehead protector and showed the genin his skull. It was scarred, burn and had holes drilled into it. " If a ninja is cowardly, and abandons his comrades, he not only is considered the lowest of all scum, but also has to live with the guilt of his actions for the rest of his life."

Kato gave a small yawn. All of this was stuff that Kakashi had drilled into her head since she had been with him. Team mates. Sometimes all they were was a burden. Unless they were able to fight for themselves, they didn't have the luxury of living. Her father had told her that, though Kakashi had been quick to take most of those thoughts from her mind. Just because she didn't enforce them though didn't mean that she still didn't think it. Ibuki continued to tell the genins the importance of this exam, but was abruptly cut short by a female ninja. A loud female ninja. She announced that she was the second examination proctor and that they were to all assemble at the next exam location.


	3. Chuunin exams, Finding yourself

This one is a little long, but hopefully that doesn't deter anyone from continuing on! Please leave some comments guys!

I have a lot of ideas as to how this will continue, and whether any romances might start up. I wanted to keep the options open at this point, so there may be some surprises as to what goes on or not.

enjoy!

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The remaining examinees stood before a large, gate surrounded forest. The forest of death as it was so brightly called. Kato stood quietly beside her team mates, once again with her hood up. She was expected to go with this group all the way to the center. She didn't even know who these two women were. She didn't have any chances to talk to them more about any of their abilities. She could only assume that they were competent to keep up.

Each group was led to a different gate and given one of two scrolls. Kato looked over at the girl holding their scroll. Heaven. So that meant they needed an earth scroll. Kato tapped the girl on the shoulder and smiled brightly.

" If you don't mind, could I keep the scroll?" Once again, the two girls glanced at each other, contemplating whether it was a good idea or not. Kato gave a stern gaze. " Trust me, I won't give it up. Despite my appearance, I'm probably one of these stronger people here." The girl holding the scroll laughed.

" Cocky, aren't you. " She grinned, handing Kato the scroll. Kato tucked it into the pocket on her leg.

" Only when I need to be." she replied. She turned to the gate. " Shall we?" The three girls walked into the forest before jumping away and toward the centre. After a while and no signs of any other group around them, Kato looked back at the two. Both of them were completely focused on their surroundings. They searched for anything. Traps, other groups or creatures of the forest. Kato returned her gaze ahead of her. She had been concentrating only a small amount of chakra to her eyes so that she could hear the various things that were going on about her. She stopped and looked at the two older girls. " It might work more to our advantage if we split up and work from there. We still have the neck radios, so we could use one of those to keep in contact. By splitting our group, other teams will have a one in three chance of getting the scroll. It would be harder for them to track all of us at once without splitting their group, which gives us an advantage. Also, we can better search for provisions and set traps." The oldest girl nodded in thought.

" We should each have one radio, and only contact each other if the scroll is taken from you, we've acquired another scroll, or aid is needed. Otherwise, the radios should be kept silent. We should report in every three hours until we reach the tower. Since we've entered on the East, We should meet on the east side of the tower. If something goes wrong, meet on the west." She said. "My name is Ergo." Kato nodded and glanced at there other girl.

" My name is Kato." The other girl looked around anxiously. Why was she being so antsy? Kato thought.

" I'm Sae." She said . She reminded Kato of Hinata, only way more open. Kate reached into her pocket and pulled out her radio. She strapped it around her neck and listened as the other two did the same. The three of them matched signals and spread whatever they had with them. After a final nod, they split into three different directions. Now that she was by herself, Kato focused her chakra further out. She knew there was another group here, she had heard them as they silently slinked around. From the way they were doing a horrible way of covering the noise, Kato found that she was given two obvious options. Either these ninja were setting a trap, or they just sucked. There was no way she would know until she could actually see them at work. As this was just the beginning of the second examination, it left her with six days to reach the tower. It should take her maybe three hours to assess this group, if she could find them, and devise a plan on how she was going to take their scroll. The only problem would be if she obtained another Heaven scroll. There was a fifteen percent chance that the scroll this group had was an Earth scroll. It all depended on the method that the proctors decided on to hand out the scrolls. Was there a pattern or was in just randomized. It was most likely random. This left Kato a fifty percent chance of getting the scroll she needed. Technically, it was more of a fifty five percent chance. She had a Heaven scroll with her now that means that was one less heaven scroll that she could end up with. It took Kato quite some time to find the first sign that a group had gone through here. Judging by the sun's position, it was late afternoon and four hours into the second exam. She swiftly was able to catch up to the group from there and found that this group was actually quite stupid. They were loud, careless and completely oblivious. Kato vaulted over top of the group and landed in front of the lead ninja. The immediately shut up and stared. Kato , who couldn't see their faces, stared at the ground and held out her hand.

" Give me you scroll and I won't have to hurt you." She said calmly, but quietly. Now that they were in the dense forest, she had to be careful about the noise she made. There were groups everywhere now and would just as soon walk in on a group fighting for a scroll than actually do the work for themselves. The ninja were silent, contemplating what they should do and how much trouble a blind girl could do. The shadow from the hood gave her white eyes an ominous look to them.

" Unfortunately miss, we aren't going to be handing anything over to you" The furthest ninja said. He didn't have the scroll. Kato focused her penetrating chakra to the second ninja. No scroll there either. She realized that this group may have hidden their scroll. She widened her Chakra Eyes to incorporate the surrounding area as she searched the final ninja. Bingo. There was a scroll hidden in the leg of his baggy pants. It was strapped to his leg securely. Kato launched into action. She flew past the ninja with the scroll and blasted the furthest ninja with a powerful kick. Without any hesitation, she launched herself at the next ninja, finishing him easily. She turned around and found the last ninja cowering behind her. He held the scroll in front of him. Disgusted, Kato took the scroll, glancing at the name. Dammit! It was a Heaven scroll. In frustration, she kicked the ninja backwards. He slammed against a tree and slid down. He glanced a t Kato and saw her blind eyes furiously reading the scroll. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she walked off. A few hours later, she sat down and tapped on the radio.

"I managed to commandeer a second heaven scroll." she reported. " Should I meet up with one of you, I can give it to you." Sae's voice crackled through the receiver in Kato's ear.

" I think I'm about two hours from you. Tonight at dusk I can get it from you." She said. Kato replied quickly and said nothing more. She could hear some people talking about half a mile away. Of she hurried, she could catch up and maybe get the scroll they needed.

She silently rushed through the trees, stopping quickly as she heard the agony filled death screams of another group. She walked out of the bushes right as the last group member exploded in a rush of blood. She managed to block most of the blood with a quick burst of wind. She felt a drop it her cheek and slowly run down her cheek. Her hood fell to her shoulders lightly. She could feel six other people in the area, three of which were hiding in a bush near the three that had just done the killing.

" Oh." Kato said quietly as she touched her cheek. She tried to draw all attention to her and away from the group in the bushes. She was greeted with silence. Calmly, she walked foreword, toward the killer ninja. She focused her chakra so she could see. She stopped slowly and smiled. The boy in from of her had deep red hair. Around his eyes were permanent black circles. She smiled at the familiar sight. She noticed his eye held a murderous stare. He wanted to kill her, that much was obvious. She'd want to kill herself to, if she were him.

" It's been so long Ai-kun." She whispered, reached for the pendant around her neck. She saw a small flicker in his eyes as he finally recognized her. " You never wrote the letter you promised. I thought you had forgotten about me." Out of no where, Gaara's sand flashed towards her. She smiled as she realized he was going to try and kill her. She easily avoided his attack. From the position of his hands and legs, she could see that he wasn't going to be giving any inch in his attack, nor was he going to allow her to see what attack he was going to make. She doubted he was thinking that far ahead, but was merely being cocky. She twisted out of the way of a tendril of sand and did a no hand back flip over Gaara's head. His sand covered her instantly. She felt the seal on her back pulse as Tsede grew impatient. That was the thing with her sealed demon. Tsede chose when he would help and disregard the seal on Kato's back. Tsede hardly ever woke and went out of his way to help Kato, though for some reason, Kato could tell that he liked being sealed in her. She didn't know why and chalked it off to him being a perverted, lazy, sealed demon. Her chakra exploded through Gaara's sand as she used the wind around her to create a sort of wall. Tsede's chakra was bursting through her body as she fought it down. She didn't want to get into a head to head fight with Gaara, she merely wanted to take his attention from her friends in the bush. Gaara turned around again and once again shot his sand toward her at lightning speed. She frowned inside as she realized he didn't care if she was his supposed closest friend. He just wanted to kill. With a large blast of wind, she blew away Gaara's sand and stood in front of him, her face blank.

" Ai-kun, Ganbatte." She watched his bloodthirsty face as she smiled sadly

" Gaara, stop" She heard the boy say. "We have the scroll, isn't it enough?" Kato turned her head slightly and listened as the three bickered, with death threats coming from Gaara. Kato could feel his cold gaze on her through out the whole thing. It was all he could do to turn around and not crush her skull, she knew. Luckily for her, his siblings weren't eager to fight. After a tense moment between the three sand ninja, they began to walk away. Kato stopped and watched them leave. So Ai-kun, Gaara, as here after all. She wished he didn't have that look about him…

_The Anbu set Kato down on the balcony. Before her was a tall man with deep red hair. He did not smile at Kato._

" _When will the Konoha ninja come to collect her?" He said shortly. The Anbu glanced at Kato and then back to the man._

" _As soon as they can send a ninja over here." came the reply. Kato rushed over to the wall and glanced down. There was no way she could jump and run away. She could feel tears prickling at the back of her eyes. She wanted her papa. She wanted him to come and take her back home. She hated the men that took her away. She was supposed to be with her father. It was her birthday, not there's. She turned around, fixing the two men a menacing glare. The edges of her black silk kimono furled in the small breeze. She as about to launch herself at the man in front of her, the one with the red hair, when a pretty blonde man rushed out._

" _Gaara's gone missing again." He said lightly. He looked at Kato and smiled. Kato could feel her anger disappear, which was odd. " I'm going to go and search for him. Shall I take this young lady with me?" The question was directed more toward Kato than the men. Hesitantly, she took a small step foreword. She nodded her head and trotted after the blond haired man. He led her out of the sand like castle and onto the dirt covered streets. The man looked down at Kato. Though Kato was blind, she was managing fairly easily to walk around the town. She looked up._

" _I hear children." she said finally. The blonde man frowned. Gaara. He stopped and listen quickly before pulling Kato down a different street. He let go of her hand and rushed foreword. _

" _Gaara! Stop!" He yelled. Kato could feel something from the ground in the air. She heard a whoosh and a loud bang. She walked foreword, but stopped. She could feel small hands grabbing her arms._

" _Don't go over there! He's a monster he'll kill us all!" Kato shrugged free of the hands and listened as the kids ran away._

" _I'm sorry." Gaara said quietly to the man who smiled. The man began to explain something to Gaara, but Kato wasn't listening. She had sat down and was feeling the sand. She had never felt this kind of sand before. She heard a shuffle and then someone was standing in front of her. She looked up with her Chakra Eyes. The boy had red hair and green eyes with permanent black circles around them. He was simply staring at her. She lifted a hand full of sand and showed it to him. She smiled._

" _I've never felt this kind of sand before." She said quietly, dropping her hand slowly. " It's so rough." The boy said nothing. He stood in front of her quietly, just staring._

" _Can't you see who I am?" He asked in frustration. " Aren't you afraid that I'm going to kill you?"_

_Kato looked up in confusion. Her face went still for a moment, before she gave a sad smile in which Gaara picked up on immediately._

" _I'm blind." She said quietly. " I can't see anything. Well, I can with chakra, but not like you can." The two stood in silence for a while. Gaara sat down in front of her and stuck his hand into the sand. He placed it next to Kato._

" _This is the best sand in the world" He said quietly and slowly. Kato reached for it and touched it. She dropped it from her hand with a surprised cry. Gaara could feel the despair coming to him. So she did realize who he was. She would reject him too._

" _It's cold!" Kato exclaimed, trying to find the now warm sand. " How did you make it cold!" Gaara was stunned. Did she not know who he was yet? She was more focused on the sand than she was on him, and he could kill her. Gaara reached under the top layer of sand again and pulled some out. He took her wrist and gently placed the sand in again. Kato gave a small sigh. She placed the sand against her cheek and smiled. Gaara liked that smile. It wasn't a fake smile, or one a menacing one. It was one that was made from something else. But, he didn't know what. He felt something warm running down his cheeks. He reached a hand up and felt moisture. He was crying, he realized with confusion. But why? Suddenly Kato gave a small yawn. At that moment, the blond came over and stood next to the two. _

" _Come now, it's time to go back." He said calmly. Gaara stood up immediately and looked at Kato. She was still sitting in the sand. He reached over to her._

" _It's time to go now.' He said, taking hold of Kato's arm. She looked up angrily. Gaara scowled. So now was when she rejected him. She pulled her arm away._

" _I don't want to go back." She said in anger. " I want to go home. I want to see papa." The blonde man knelt beside Kato. He gently stroked her hair._

" _Your father asked us to bring you here." he lied. " He wanted you to meet someone." Kato glanced up at him. Her father didn't send her here, she was taken by those men. Her papa had screamed and yelled and cursed when they ran off with her. She frowned, knowing that there was nothing she could do. She missed her papa and felt the tears coming back again. They slowly ran down her cheeks. The blond man patted her back. " It's all right, you'll see him again soon." Gaara walked over as Kato stood up. He reached over and took her hand, something he had never done before. Kato stopped crying and looked over at Gaara, who said nothing. They started walking slowly toward the Kazekage's mansion, the blonde in the lead. Gaara looked over at Kato and for the first time in a long time, smiled._

Kato walked over to the bushes and peered down. Standing just a bit away were Kiba, Akamaru, hinata and Shino. They stared at her incredulously.

" Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Kiba demanded impatiently, stalking up to her. She shook her head. She was looking back towards the now long gone backs of the sand ninja. Though she hadn't shown it, she was frightened by the look that Ai had given to her. He had always had a kind of volatile temper, but had refrained from showing it to her when they were together. She had appreciated it back then. She had liked having him around and with her because he had made her feel safe. Besides Maru-kun and Ka-but san, she had never really had any friends. Now that she had finally seen Gaara again, she felt the old feelings rush back. Only now, she was frightened of him. He had finally turned that bloodthirsty glare her way. But that wasn't what hurt her so much. It was the fact that, even though they had made the promise to stay friends forever, he had broken it and tossed the pendant. She pulled out the pendant from under her vest. It was a simple pendant made of elegantly twining silver. There was a sort of design to it that shaped out like a seal. Both Kato and Gaara had a seal. This pendant signified that those two marks were the glue to their everlasting friendship. Kato twirled the pendant around in her fingers carefully tracing the design before placing it back under her vest.

"Kato." Came a deep voice. Kato looked up, Shino was standing in front of her now, with Kiba and Hinata staring at her worriedly. " Are you alright?" Kato glanced up at Shino's face and flashed a smile. She nodded and turned around.

" So do you have all the scrolls yet?" She asked. Kiba cleared his throat. Kato laughed brightly and turned around. " Don't worry, I'm not going to take yours. I would rather all of us Konoha rookies got through, I have an extra Heaven scroll with me is all." Kiba laughed in embarrassment. He felt bad for thinking that Kato would steal a scroll from them. She was one of them after all.

" Naw, we're good." he replied, slapping Kato's back. She liked her Konoha friends. They treated her like she was normal and not a blind albino. She smiled again before looking left.

" Well, I need to go now. I'm supposed to meet another member of my group soon. Then I'm going to go off and search for another scroll. I've got kind of a bad feeling about tomorrow so be careful you three. Finish as quickly as you can and head for the tower." She said lightly before walking off and jumping into a tree. "Good luck guys!" and with that, she ran off. After just half an hour, Sae's voice drifted through the radio.

" Kato, stay where you are alright? I'll come and get the second scroll." she said. Kato stopped on a branch and reached for the second scroll. Suddenly, Ergo's voice cut through.

" There's no need for the second scroll now. I have an earth scroll. Sae, if you still feel like grabbing it, that's alright. We can use it as a back up in case one of the two is lost."

" Then should we look for a second earth scroll?" Kato asked. She glanced around her. It was getting dark. She would have to tie up her hair soon. She was like a living flashlight at night when they moon peeked through.

" No" Sae said after a moment. " We can make our way towards the tower now. Kato, if you chance upon a Konoha team in need of the scroll, hand it over to them. Only to Konoha though." Kato nodded.

" Alright. Is that alright with you Ergo?" Kato asked. Kato waited for Ergo's response. She pulled her pony tail under the hood of her shirt and brought it up over her head. She clipped it in place and pulled on her gloves. The more of her pale skin she could hide, the better.

" It's fine with me. It's best to have as many of our comrades in this as we can. We don't know what the third exam is yet, so it's better to play it safe." Ergo replied quickly. " Tonight, rest up and then tomorrow we can work our way towards the tower. Depending on each of our positions, we should all be at the tower by noon tomorrow. Providing we don't run into any trouble. See you then" Kato turned the volume on her radio down a bit more before continuing the way she was going. She had seen a few of the other Konoha teams being led to gates on this side, so she had a high probability of catching up to one of them.

Whether by pure bad luck or not, Kato found herself standing right in front of two dead ninja. They had been slaughter horrifically. One of the corpses was missing its head, while the other had its arm almost completely torn off. Kato shook her head and looked down the path. There was bound to be at least one survivor as this was a three man cell. And they didn't look like they had been dead for very long, which meant the killers weren't that far away. Provided Kato hurried, she may be able to catch up and help the one ninja, even if she didn't know who he or she was. Kato dashed foreword, pulling out a half mask and tying it to her face. She would need to be hidden during this whole thing, and her skin wouldn't allow for that. She took her vest off and flipped it inside out, to the black side. Kakashi had, oddly enough, acquired this vest for her. The side she usually wore was white like she was and stood out against the thin black turtle neck and black pants she wore underneath it. The inside was pitch black and that allowed her to blend in when she needed to. Despite his constant teasing, Kakashi always made sure that Kato felt normal in her life.

Kato zipped up the vest to the very top, hiding the small bit of skin on her neck. She jumped into the tree and pushed foreword. She had to hurry if she was going to do anything. She heard a loud crash to her left and skidded to a stop , nearly falling off the branch she was standing on. When she didn't hear anything else, she took a step towards the noise. There were loud bangs ahead of, alerting her that there was a fight going on straight ahead. She rushed forward again. She hopped to a branch and watched as Sasuke and Sakura stood on a branch trying to dodge attacks made by a lone ninja. The ninja had blood on his shirt. Kato realized that this ninja must have killed his comrades and gone after Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. But where was Naruto? She looked behind her and realized that crash must have been him. She turned around and saw the ninja launch an attack at a paralyzed Sasuke. Quickly, she darted forward grabbing Sasuke and Sakura as she went. She stopped on a branch and let them go.

"Kato?" Sakura whispered softly. Kato turned and gave her a blind smile. Sakura couldn't see it from behind the mask, but knew the girl dressed in black was smiling at her. " Kato, we need to get out of here." Sasuke cringed and fell to his knees. He grabbed hold of his neck and gave a yell. Kato turned around and glanced behind her.

" What's going on?" She asked loudly. She turned to the Ninja before her and noticed that his face was burning off. It was peeling away and gave her the idea of a mask. She jumped foreword, appearing in front of him faster than he could take a breath. Under the peeling skin, she could see pale skin and purple eyeliner. His eye looked like a snakes. " Who are you?" She hissed, jamming a kunai knife towards him. He dodged backwards fluidly. He gave a small laugh as Kato darted after him. She heard Sakura call after her, followed closely by Sasuke's scream of pain.

" The question is," The man said quickly. " Why aren't you helping your fellow ninja." Kato dashed foreword. And landed a kick to his stomach. She heard him grunt as she quickly followed with a kunai knife to his arm. He jumped away and cursed, blood flowing gently from his arm. He looked up and shook his head. Kato pulled off her mask and took a deep breath.

"Who are you!" she demanded., taking a step forward. The man gave an amused laugh again.

" I am the fall of Konoha." He said as Kato prepared to attack. Kato paused and turned her blind eyes toward the man's general direction. He sounded just like….

" the fall of Konoha…" she repeated quietly. She felt her lips curve into a smile. " Konoha…" The man stopped laughing. He appeared in front of Kato, grabbing her throat swiftly. He lifted her off the ground and brought his face closer to hers.

"Are you blind, little kunoichi?" he laughed mockingly. " How interesting." he flung her into the tree branch. Her clip on her hood broke, her white hair spilling out. She stood up and threw two shurikens in his direction. She jumped over to him and kicked him backwards.

" Not only am I blind, but I can kick the crap out of you anytime." She hissed. She slung a kunai knife towards him, which he deflected with his arm. Kato heard the soft tear. She focused a chakra to her eyes so she could see that man more clearly as she swung again. She stopped suddenly as she realized the man was simply staring at her. She looked at the man's arm and saw the black tattoo on it. Kato dropped the kunai knife in surprise. She looked up with a surprised frown. The man rushed foreword and punched kato in the stomach. Kato felt herself fall unconscious. She slumped in the man's arms lightly, her white hair falling across her shoulders. The man set Kato down gently and stroked her hair a few times before standing up. He stared at her for a while, then ripped the disintegrating skin from his face and tossed it to the ground.

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Don't forget to comment!


	4. What happened to you?

Here's chapter Four! I realized that up till now I haven't really touched on the seal that Kato has on her, nor really what her kekkei Genkai is. I know I've explained, but there hasn't been much of anything else. Here's to hoping that I will eventually get around to some back stories and such!

Don't forget to comment!

Tsede

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Kato woke the next morning. She jumped to her feet and tossed her head around. She couldn't hear anything at all. Was last night a dream? She was sure that it was real. And if it was, then Sakura and the others were still in trouble. She turned around and rushed back. She couldn't believe that she just left Sasuke and Sakura like that. They were definitely in no position to fight and she left them just like that. She scolded herself for doing that. The least she could do was hurry back and see if no other team decided on picking up the scroll. Technically, she was already finished the exam, so she didn't really have anything to worry about. She silently stopped on a branch above where Sakura had moved Sasuke and Naruto. Looking down, she realized she had made a big mistake running after that man. Currently, Sakura was having the crap kicked out of her, while Sasuke and Naruto were still unconscious. Lee, from Neji's team was out cold in front of Sasuke and Naruto. Ino, choji and Shikumaru were standing a bit a ways from the three boys. Sakura was thrown away and immediately after that, was charged at. Kato jumped foreword, and kicked the Sound ninja's leg away. He flew into a tree with a crash, completely surprised. Kato twirled once to get her balance, and stood in front of Sakura. Her white eyes were narrowed in anger and disgust as she quickly glanced at the three ninja. She stood in a relaxed stance, her feet apart and her hand on her hip.

" You must really enjoy looking like fools." She said calmly. She turned to The boy that shot wind from his arms. With a small grin, she charged at him. He would be an easy one to beat. As well, Tenten and Neji had just arrived. Things were turning in Sakura's favour fairly quickly. She stopped suddenly and glanced behind her. What was this heat she could feel in the wind?

"Sakura," Kato called. " tell me what you see." The boy in front of her gave a laugh.

"You're that blind girl from before." He said, thoroughly amused. Kato shot him a quick, menacing grin. For some reason, he froze in place. Kato turned around and immediately felt a shift in someone's chakra. It whisked through the air and created a small wind. Kato sighed and jumped backwards. Sasuke was awake and vengeful.

" Sakura" he said menacingly. " Who did that to you." Kato gave a visible shiver. The hateful chakra was even in his voice. Kato didn't like it very much. There was something extremely ominous about it and the way it flowed so freely from Sasuke's body. It was so strong, that the blackness that covered her eyes had lightened a bit. She was still blind, but the resonance of the chakra had seeped through her own and was causing her Chakra Eyes to be activated unconsciously. She turned away and tried to ease Sasuke's chakra out of her own. This was troublesome, she thought. She touched her arm and rubbed it slightly. She could feel her small tattoo twitching slightly. That man was most certainly her father. He had left his mark on Sasuke that was bound to have some serious repercussions. Was that why he hadn't killed her? The boy who shot wind from his arms attacked Sasuke , Naruto and Sakura. There was a loud explosion and as the dust settled, there was no sign of Sasuke, Sakura or Naruto. Even though she was blind though, Kato knew that Sasuke was right beside the boy. She could hear the wind pushing against the three of them. With extreme ease Sasuke swatted the guy in the head, sending him flying across the dirt. Kato stared in surprise. This wasn't the same Sasuke they had known. Not by a long shot. She watched as this Sasuke easily grabbed the boy's arms and pulled them backwards, breaking them slowly. The whole time, Sasuke had a smile on his face. Once that was more sinister than anything she had ever seen in her entire life. He tossed the boy down to the ground and turned to the last sound ninja.

" You had better offer me more entertainment than he did." Sasuke sneered, walking toward the guy. Sakura sat behind him on the verge of tears. Though Kato couldn't see what was going on, from the sounds of things, they weren't going very well for the sounds ninja. She could pretty much guarantee that none of them would be leaving unharmed if Sasuke had his way. At that moment, Sakura lunged after Sasuke, wrapping her arms around his body on a futile attempt to stop him. He shifted his deadly glare to her crying eyes.

"Stop" Sakura cried, holding him tighter. Sasuke didn't reply After a moment, the marks on his body began to fade. Kato felt the death dealing chakra dissipating from the air. She heard Sasuke and Sakura fall to the ground and the sound ninja take a breath.

" Sasuke Uchiha." He said, fear tinged on his voice. " There is no humanly way that we can beat you right now." Kato heard him pull something out of his pouch. " Here's our scroll. I promise you that if we meet again after this exam, we won't run away or hide." He turned around and began to walk away, both his companions in his arms.

"Wait!" Sakura yelled, standing up. Kato glanced over to Sakura. What was she doing? They just got rid of the buggers. " What did that man do to Sasuke? What does Orochimaru want!"

Kato felt her heart stopped as she clenched the kunai knife in her hand tightly. It was him. She couldn't hear anything else that was said, she was focused on the dirt. The only thing her father wanted out of this examination, was Sasuke Uchiha. He hadn't come to look for her. He had probably tossed her from his mind and found someone else to replace her, his own flesh and blood. That is after all, what he had done to her mother and so many other ninja that he had found no more use for, or simply had grown tired of. The only thing that interested her father right now was finding another body, another protégé. He could have cared less for her, his failed offspring. Not only had she been born an Albino, but she was born blind and a girl. He had wanted a healthy son and gotten something he didn't want. Worst case scenario. Kato questioned everything her father had taught her then, everything he had said to her. He had doted on her. Or so he had created the illusion of. He probably had arranged for her to disappear from his side. No matter how many times he had told her that she would be a magnificent ninja, that her Kekkei Genkai and her amazing natural genius would make her into one of the strongest ninja of all time. He probably always wished to be rid of her. The fragile daughter that he didn't want. Kato couldn't think of anything that her father had told her that seemed true. She was questioning everything he had said, given her. She touched her arm again. He had given her a cursed seal when she was little. She could use it perfectly now, though Kakashi and Sarutobi had placed a seal on it to prevent her from using it. Tsede lay dormant for now in his seal. His power, her father had taught to use as well. Though once again she was forbidden to use it. Her father had done all of this to her, just so he could throw her away. She could feel her adoration of him faltering. Why? Why was he her father? Why had he said so mu-

" Kato!" Someone yelled to her. Kato blinked, torn from her thoughts. Shikumaru was standing in front of her. No doubt many if not all of the other Konoha genins were staring at her. She could definitely feel Neji's gaze. She lifted her head to match Shikumaru's. " Are you alright?" Kato realized that she had been frowning violently and squeezing her arm. She relaxed and gave a small smile.

" Not at all." She said cheerfully. She turned to Sakura. " You said that man's name was Orochimaru, right?" Sakura nodded. Kato turned to Shikumaru. " What is she doing? I can't see." Shikumaru gave a snort and looked over.

"She was nodding." He replied, forcefully removing Kato's hand from her arm. " Don't you need to Find your team?" Kato let out a small oh and nodded. Actually, she did. She walked over to Sakura and Sasuke.

" What scroll did he give you?" she asked as she stopped in front of them. She heard one of the two reaching for it.

" Heaven, why?" Sakura said. Kato could hear the wary tone in her voice, so she laughed. She pulled out her two scrolls.

" I have two Heaven scrolls." she replied. Sakura laughed slightly. She had actually thought Kato would take their only scroll now. Kato turned to Shikumaru. She knew Neji would never accept it, so she didn't bother to even ask. " Shiku, do you guys still need a scroll?"

" Ya" he replied. He shifted over to look at her. " Why?"

"I have an extra Heaven scroll. Do you guys need it?" She said, holding up the scroll. Shikumaru walked over and took it from Kato's hand.

"Thanks a bunch Kato." He said quietly. He lightly touched her shoulder. "What do you want in return?" Kato frowned. She hadn't wanted anything in return. She quickly racked her brain for something.

"How about something to eat?" she asked. She hadn't eaten since before the first exam yesterday and she was somewhat hungry. Shikumaru grabbed her arm and led her over to some bushes.

"Choji." He said. "Give me one of you bags of chips." Kato cringed a bit. She wasn't too fond of potato chips. They had a sort of greasy taste to them. She heard Choji give Shikumaru a bag and ask why he needed it. Shikumaru placed it in Kato's hands. "There." She heard Choji exclaim in disagreement. "Choji, you idiot. We're going to pass the exam because of Kato. The least you could do is give her the freaking bag of chips." Choji, though still mumbling, said nothing else. Choji liked to eat the last chip in his precious bags of potato chips. The least she could do was save the last ones for him. She probably wouldn't be eating them very much anyway. Suddenly. Her radio crackled in her ear.

"Kato, where are you? We can't get into the tower until you're here." Sae said, mildly impatient and a little worried. She probably thought Kato had gotten into trouble that she couldn't get out of because she was blind. Kato pressed the response button.

"I'm on my way now. I should be there soon." She replied. Shikumaru stared.

"Your team is already finished?" he asked. Kato smiled her team had been finished since yesterday, five hours into the exam. So of course, with her truthful (and gloating) nature she told this to Shikumaru and anyone else that was around. "Since I had the second heaven scroll, we decided it would be beneficial to find another Konoha team and give it to them. My other two team-mates have been waiting for me since yesterday." She turned around and jumped into a tree. "I have to get going now. If you guys need any help, just call out. Guaranteed I can hear you." she laughed, tapping her ear before running off towards the tower. She stopped smiling as soon as she was out of sight and stopped, slumping against a tree. She grabbed her legs and pulled them close to her before squeezing her eyes closed. This had been the worst day of her life.

Kato walked over to her waiting team members and waved. Ergo held out the earth scroll and waited for Kato to do the same. Quite a few times, Kato wondered how she would be able to tell if they were actually her team-mates or not. She had actually been present a long time ago, but had merely watched the two to make certain she wasn't going to fall into a trap. She pulled out the heaven scroll and placed it in Ergo's hands. They turned around and walked through the doors of the tower, successfully completing the second exam.

Kato's group waited patiently for the exam to end. It was a feat that Kato couldn't accomplish. They were only two days into the six day exam. With four days remaining, there literally seemed like there was nothing to do. The only other teams that were finished were Kiba's team and Gaara's. Kato stood and wandered around the dark, empty tower. She found Kiba and his group a few minutes ( and a few floors) later. She sat next to them silently and glanced around. She assumed it was dark in this tower, mainly because even with her chakra and its above average "sight", she still couldn't make out very much. Now all the ninja here would be playing the way she was all the time. She could hear a slight shivering from underneath something and when she asked Shino about it, he told her it was Akamaru. He told her that when they had first seen Gaara and his killer intent, Akamaru had begun his shivering. Akamaru had been afraid. Kato tilted her head up. So Gaara was that malicious now. She remembered when they were little and he had enjoyed playing. He had been a depressing kid, Kato smiled. He never seemed to relax when others were around. Even when she told him that she had a seal too, he still though he was a monster. She guessed that was what happened when you are shunned for you entire life. She had been secluded from the outside world and didn't really have any way of saying she understood how Gaara or Naruto felt. She only knew how it was to be constantly thought of as a disabled person because she was blind. At least she had that against him.

She found herself fingering the pendant around her neck again as she thought. This year had been so weird and was guaranteed to get a whole lot stranger. In one year, no in one day she had managed to see her father again, and see Ai, Gaara, again. She twirled the pendant again and leaned against a wall. She was aware of Shino's gaze the whole time. Everyone seemed to be picking up on her troubled mind lately. Well at least, Only her close friends that was. The stupider ones like Naruto and Kiba just sort of laughed. She closed her eyes and sighed. When she was little, she had always thought about the time when she would see her dad and Gaara and all of them again. She hadn't even put into consideration how much everything would have changed over that fact. She wondered if the Kabuto they had met at the beginning of the exam was Ka-bu san. She wished more than anything she could see like everyone else. What was the point of having eyes if you couldn't see with them? She had thought about gauging her eyes out at various times in her short life. She didn't use them anyway, they were more of a decoration than anything else.

She could hear steps coming towards them and quickly mumbled that fact to Shino. He stood up and walked a bit away. The steps steadily came closer and stopped. She heard Shino mumble something, but even with her hearing, she couldn't understand what was said. After a brief bit of silence, the steps continued again and disappeared. Shino came back to the group and was greeted with the loud questions of Kiba. Hinata moved beside Kato, holding Akamaru in her arms. Kato could tell Hinata wanted to ask her something, but was hesitating to do so. Kato turned to the girl and smiled encouragingly.

" Did you see Naruto-kun at any time?" she asked finally in a small, stopping voice. Kato nodded and tucked the pendant under her shirt.

" I saw him just before I came here.' Kato replied. She decided that she wasn't going to tell Hinata about the problem his team had gotten into. With Hinata's crush on Naruto and her worrisome nature, it probably wasn't the best thing to do. " His group is still looking for another scroll. I think they'll be fine." she touched her vest lightly, then turned back to Hinata.

" Say, can you tell me what colour my vest is right now?" Kato asked. She wondered if she had flipped it back when she came here. Hinata told her it was black quietly. Kato gave a quick thanks and flipped it back to normal. She was bored out of her mind. There was absolutely nothing to do. She took off her gloves and placed them into her thigh pocket. She was dirty and hungry and would have liked to find a nice bed to sleep on. She stood up quietly after saying good bye to Hinata. She squeezed by Kiba and Shino who stood at the door of the particularly small room.

" Where are you going?" Kiba asked loudly as she walked down the dark hallway. Kato shrugged and continued walking. Kiba was one of the select few that still thought she couldn't manage on her own because of her lack of sight. She guessed she was going off to see Gaara. She had nothing better to do and a little adrenaline never hurt anyone. The only problem was finding him without him eventually kicking the crap out of her or worse. She wanted to find out, well she didn't really know what she wanted to find out. She just knew that when she had seen him and he had attacked her, though he hadn't hurt her physically he had hurt her emotionally. She had considered him her closest friend forever. That had been their promise to each other. The physical sign of that were the pendants. The one he wasn't wearing anymore. The one he had probably stopped wearing right after she left. She couldn't deny that it was depressing to know that everything she had put her faith into didn't matter anymore. She had believed that Konoha could give her her sight. She believed her father was looking for her so he could have her back. She thought that Gaara would be her friend forever and that when they met again, they would smile and talk like they used to. She thought that she could become an ninja that was equivalent to everyone else, one that every one looked up to. Instead, she was merely the blind ninja that looked too deeply into anything. The one that couldn't tell what colour her vest was without someone's help. Sure, she could dodge sand attacks and any other sort of attack, but when it came down to something that required sight, not even her Chakra eyes could help her. When she confided in Neji, he merely told her not to worry about it. He told her that when the time came, she would be recognized for the great ninja she was. She laughed bitterly. How could anyone consider her great? Where Neji and Sasuke had their Byakugan and Sharingan, she had the amazing ability of blackness. No matter how many times she told people she didn't like the idea of copying someone else's ninjustsu (something she could already do) or seeing three hundred and sixty degrees and chakra points, she wished she could see like that. She wished that she could develop her skills farther like everyone else could with their sight. She didn't care if she saw in black and white, she just wished she could see.

She realized that she had been wandering aimlessly down the hallway when she ran into someone. The person was alone, and stopped to scoff at her.

" maybe you should watch where you're walking." Came the cruel sneer. Kato could feel that remark sear into her ears.

" I would if I could see." she replied dryly, easing herself to her feet. There was no reply as she started to walk again.

" you're kato, aren't you?" Kato stopped and turned around. This was one time when she wished she could see who it was that was standing in front of her. She nodded, trying to feel the chakra in the room to find out who it was. " I'm from Gaara's team." Kato raise an eyebrow. " Gaara is pretty impatient so I wouldn't be going that way if I were you. He's still pretty angry over that fight." kato turned back around and continued walking down the hall. " Hey! Didn't you hear what I just said?" She hear the air spli as the guy jumped in front of her. Kato moved to go around him and he blocked her again.

" Get out of my way." She said coldly. She was getting tired of this very quickly. She put a hand on the guys chest and forced chakra to her hand. Neji had taught her this small trick. Instantly, the guy was pushed backwards by the chakra in her hands. She walked passed him and entered a room. She was immediately hit with a wave of bloodthirsty desire. Gaara was in this room. It took her only a minute to find the almost familiar presence of him. She strode over to him and stopped in front if him. She could tell the girl was standing a few feet away watching her intently. Kato reached a hand back and slapped Gaara across the face. She instantly felt the menacing oresence shift to her as Gaara fixed his glare on her. Kato's face was blank, except for the anger boiling in her unseeing eyes. She had no idea why she had just slapped him. Maybe it was her way of taking out all of her frustrations. In any case, Gaara now wanted to kill her even more.

" What happened to you" she demanded, gritting her teeth and staring over his head. She knew that even with all those years and all that hardship that Gaara had gone through, he shouldn't have turned out this bad. Something big had to have happened to make him this way. If had anything to do with the kazekage, she was going to murder him in his sleep. Gaara didn't reply. He was most likely thinking of the most painful way to kill her. Kato was seething, and she could feel Tsede's energy trying to balance everything out. It was weird. Tsede took care of her at times like this. But this time, she didn't want his help. She wanted Gaara's head on a platter for supper. She heard the boy enter the room again and move quickly over to her. " why are you so different now?" again, Gaara said nothing. Kato had no idea if her words were even reaching his ears let alone his brain. He had always had an uncanny ability to shut her out when she would nag at him. She gave a large, furious exhale and turned around. She took a step and stopped, turning her head slightly. She shoved her hands in her pockets and shook her head.

" you know Ai." she said quietly. " there is nothing worse than knowing your closest friend, the one you shared everything with, hates you. It rather die than look at you any more. I'm sorry I ever met you." She reached around her neck and pulled off the necklace. She tossed it over to Gaara, who watched in disgust as it land in his lap. " I never took mine off because I thought that was something we shared. " She glanced over to him again with her Chakra eyes and glared into his eyes. " If I had known you wouldn't have cared after I left, I never would have gone through all the effort of keeping it." She turned around and briskly walked passed the boy. She continued walking down the hall, passed Shino and Kiba who watched her pass, and passed her bewildered team mates. She stepped outside and leaned against the wall.


	5. The Calm before the Storm

_" Hey , Ai-kun look at what I made" Kato said lifting up her drawing of a sand castle. It had to be the worst thing Gaara had ever seen. He shook his head slowly. He had learned not to say anything about those drawings. Kato was very sensitive about her blindness. He reached into his packet and pulled out two matching necklaces with identical pendants that resembled the seals on both kato and his back. He pulled her hadn away from a crayon, despite her protests. _

_" open you hand." he said shortly. He place the necklace in her hand and took her other hand so she could trace the design. Her finger wound about the cool silver. She smiled._

_" It's really cool." she said quietly. Gaara took his hand away and put the second in her hand._

_" See, they match. One for you and one for me." Kato looked up quickly. She gave a bright smile._

_" really?" she asked tracing the pendant again. Gaara nodded and said yes. He put his around his neck and watched as Kato did the same. _

_" Now we have to promise to never take them off." he said. Kato laughed and stood up._

_" We can't ever take them off. They show that were' best friends forever." She said. ' if we take them off, that means we aren't friends anymore." Gaara nodded in reply, standing up next to Kato They were silent as they stood on the balcony. The wind rustled through Kato's long white hair. Gaara looked over and saw Kato fingering the pendant. Once again she was tracing the swirling lines as she stared out into space. " When I leave, will you write to me?" She asked quietly, turning to Gaara. Gaara glanced down away from the balcony and into the sky. Both Kato and Gaara knew that someone was going to come and take her way very soon. They had found out a while ago._

_" I will." he replied. " I'll write to you everyday. I'll tell you everything."_

_" Promise?"_

_" Promise." The two stood quietly again. They had done this quite often. They found that with everything they talked about, there was less and less to say. They simply enjoyed being in each other's company. Neither of them had had any close friends before, with Gaara having none at all. These were the times when they had the most fun. They thought it would never end._

_The next morning, Gaara woke up and heard Kato yelling. He ran out of his room and down the hallway and saw his father and Yashimaru standing in front of a masked ninja holding Kato. Kato was pulling and trying to get out of his hold. She stopped briefly and called out Gaara's name. All three of the ninja turned around and saw Gaara standing behind them. Kato wrenched free of the ninja's hold and ran toward Gaara, tripping slightly. She grabbed hold of him in a fierce hug and held him tightly. Yashimaru walked over and touched kato's arm._

_" kato, it's time for you to leave now. I'm sure Gaara will be able to visit you, and you him." he said gently. Gaara looked at his father, who stood coolly in the hall. The masked ninja was rubbing the back of his head slightly. Gaara looked down at the shorter girl as she wiped her tears. _

_"I'll write, remember?" he said quietly. " I'll become a great ninja and then I can go see you." kato let go of Gaara and touched his pendant, then hers._

_"Promise?" she whispered. Gaara shook her hand._

_"Promise." he replied. She wiped her tears from her cheeks and gave a smile. Gaara always found it amusing how quickly Kato's moods changed. it was instantaneous and unpredictable. He wathced as Kato was led away and out of the sand village. He stood on the balcony and looked at the sky like he did when Kato was around. He missed her constant chatter and her horrible drawings. He wished he hadn't cleverly thrown them out. _

_A few months later, Gaara found himself back out on the balcony, staring out over the sand. He had written a letter to Kato that night, describing all the things he had done in the last few months with pride. He gave a smile as the cool wind brushed by his face and he recalled kato's excited laughter. He was attacked at that moment, by a masked sand ninja. After a breif fight, the ninja was revealed to be yashimaru, the only adult he trusted. Gaara felt his hear break. He let out a yell as the sand around him flung around. In that moment, the gentle Gaara was destroyed. On his forhead, a symbol was scratched in. The same one kato had taken to calling him. It was the symbol for love, the only thing that he didn't have now. The necklace that both ha and kato shared fell to the ground, it's clasp broken. Gaara didn't pick it up. He merely turned around and fixed a cruel glare at the world around him. He wanted them all to die._

_

* * *

_

The remaining ninja, the ones who passed the second exam were led into a large room. As Kato glanced around, she was relieved to discover that Sakura's team had made it, as well as Neji's. All of the Konoha rookies had made it through. She asked Sae to tell her who the other ninja were. Kato didn't feel like putting the effort through into finding out who made it or not. She didn't feel like doing much of anything right now. The sounds ninja who had attacked Sasuke had made it through, as well as Kabuto's team, Gaara's, and Shikumaru's. Kato carefully counted out 24 ninja still here. She streamed some of her chakra into her eyes to take alook at the varying amounts of chakra she sensed at the front of the room. Most of the people there were from Konoha, with both the first and secand examiners next to the Hokage. There was a ninja from sound and one from the Hidden village of Sand as well. Kurenai, Guy, Kakashi and Asuka stood behind Sarutobi. Kato wondered if her father was present. She turned her head slightly in Sasuke's direction. At the moment, she didn't very much like him. In fact, she kind of despised him. Next to Neji was Kabuto. In a small way, he did look feel like ka-bu. If it was him, then what was he doing here in Konoha? If he was here, it only spelt bad things for the hidden Village of the Leaf.

" Listen up!" Anko announced loudly. " Lord hokage will ow speak to you all" Kato turned around and glared at that her. What an obnoxious woman, Kato thought. Sarutobi walked a few paces foreward before launching into his speech.

" Now in a moment, the third examination will begin-" kato gave an inward groan. Would they have no rest at all? "- But before we explain it to you, I'm going to tell you about the actual purpose of this Chuunin selection exam. This series of so-called examinations are in fact small versions of war between us allied nations." Sarutobi continued hios lecture, losing Kato's interest. She glanced around the large room and deduced that the next exam would more than likely be some sort of team battles. Either that or they would go the unlikely route and have one on one battles. But the chances of that were around fifteen percent. This was a group exam, so why would they have the applicants fight solo battles? Here Sarutobi was, telling them that this selection exam was in fact a way to show a countries superiority at the cost of the lives of kids and Kato was more worried about her surroundings. She could feel slight drafts coming from various directions in the rrom indicating that there were still ways out and it wasn't a completely sealed off room. Kato tuned in to hear Sarutobi coming close to finishing his speech.

"let me reiterate before the third exam begins that you are taking no ordinary test." he said sternly, looking at each individual ninja in frint of him. " You risk not only your dreams and your own futures, but the dignity and prestige of your home village as well." He stopped, letting his final words sink into them. Kato let out a rude sigh and shifted her weight. She always did think that Sarutobi talked to much.

"Whatever." Gaara muttered cooly. " Could you wrap this up and get into the life or death stuff now?" he seemed increasingly impatient and ready to burst. Sarutobi looked frustrated.

" You insist that I explain the first exam huh?" He began. Kato heard a small sound before a ninja appeared before the Hokage. Kato felt a sickly air coming from the man and wondered if he was really well enough to be standing in front of the candidates and asking to be allowed to continue the third exam. Kato swayed slightly. She was tired and hungry and really didn't want to be here. The third proctor was well into his explanation of why there were going to be preliminaries when Kato brought her attention in. According to the proctor, because of the large amounts of candidates still present, exam rules declared that there needed to be preliminaries. This third exam was no one on one matches, ruling towards Kato's fifteen percent possibility. The proctor, Hayate, stared at each of the candidates and gave a small cough.

" if there is anyone present who does not wish to participate in the final exam, step forward." There was a short silence in where all the candidates glanced amongst themselves. Suddenly, Kabuto stepped forward and announced that he wasn't going to take part anymore. This brought up an outrage from Naruto. Kabuto calmly glanced at Naruto and told him this was his final decision.

" That last fight completely took everything out of me. I really don't have any strength left to fight, and since this is life and death, I'd rather not take my chances." Kabuto said facing Naruto. " I'm really sorry Naruto. I wish you, Sasuke and Sakura the best." With that, he turned and left. Naruto stood in shock, unable to truly believe that Kabuto was just leaving after all of that trouble. Kato's sightless eyes followed him out the exam door. It really was Kabu-san. She had an uneasy feeling about this again. She felt her loyalty toward her father stirring at her soul, but with that came the hurt and hate for him as well. Burning against her need to join her father's side to help him accomplish his dreams of destroying those who hurt him, was her loyalty to konoha and her friends. In all reality, Kato, who prided herself in being the one to whom her peers turned to for being so together, was at a complete loss. She couldn't tell what she wanted to do. Go to her father, or go to Sarutobi. This exam was causing more of a hassle for Kato than anything else.

"I'm out too." came a voice from behind Kato. " I'm not cut out for this either. Seriously, I don't want to die right now." Kato didn't need to listen carefully to know that it was Ergo saying it. Though she had given a confident appearance, Kato had seen how uncomfortable she had really been. Ergo, though she had gotten the last scroll, had kept away from any of the other groups in the forest. She gently touched Kato's shoulder and whispered her best wishes to Kato before walking out.

" is there any one else?" Hayate asked after a few moments. He sighed and turned towards the wall. " This screen will be the machine that holds the key to either your success or failure. It will choose two names at random, and those two individuals will fight The winner will pass the preliminaries and enter the third exam. The matches will proceed until the oponent cannot fight, or is killed. I redeem the right to stop the matches at any point." As he finished, the screen turned on and began to flash through names of the competitors at a high speed. It stopped on Sasuke's name. Kato could hear Sakura let out an anguished cry. She had been raising a fuss for a while now and telling Sasuke that he should tell an adult about the mark on his neck. Sasuke had downright refused of course. Kakashi made his way towards Sasuke, giving him a brief warning about the mark. Kato closed her eyes and made her way to the stairs, following Sae. She seemed to be walking deliberately slow in front of Kato so the blind girl would have an easier time finding the stairs. It frustrated Kato to be misjudged like this. She wasn't an invalid and could do just fine on her own. Kato turned her head up towards the balcony they were going to travel by. Kato stopped walking and turned around slightly. The Hokage seemed to be staying where he was at the front of the room meaning Kato couldn't get near him without drawing suspicion from her father and his henchmen. She could feel two emotions festering in her stomach. One, was love the other was hatred. Stupid man. She thought. He didn't deserve to be her father. She continued walking across the balcony, stopping behind the sound ninja. The one with the broken arms turned to look at her, followed by the girl.

" Is there some reason why you're just standing there?" he snarled. Kato tunred her head and opened her narrow, white eyes. With simple precision, she glared into his eyes, causing him to become uneasy. After a moment, Kato shifted her gaze to the man standing next to them. She stayed silent and unmoving.

" What do you want to get out of this?" She asked him shortly. She could hear the sharp edge in her voice as she spoke to him. He seemed to notice it as well. He turned and looked at her. He gave a sickening smile and licked his lips with his large tongue. Kato shook her head and walked away. " If you don't speak, I don't know what your answer is….. Remember?"

Sae watched as Kato walked past her and continue on toward Shikamaru and the others. Kato could tell what Sae had on her mind. After all, why would a Konoha ninja ask a question like the one Kato asked to a completely unknown Sound ninja?

Kato forced herself to watch the match between Sasuke and a much larger konoha ninja. Kato could hear the chakra whirring through the air. It was releasing itself from sasuke and traveling toward his opponent. If Sasuke didn't figure it out on his own soon, he was a goner in more ways than one. After one particularly vicious throw by the opponent, Sasuke was seemed to understand what was actually going on. The fight was over as soon as Sasuke stood up. Even if kato couldn't see the real fight, she knew exactly what was going compliments of the surprised, awed and confused noises she heard from all around her. Try as she might though, she couldn't really follow the fight down below. She was vaguely aware of cheering, but she blocked that out quickly. Something didn't feel right about this whole thing. Something was going on behind the scenes, but she couldn't think of anything that it could be. There were so many different variables to put into consideration that it was driving her to frustration. She needed to stop and think straight. There was a connection in everything that was going on so far. And the outcomes sucked. Whether her father had actually come to Konoha merely to retrieve a new body, or whether he had come to completely destroy it, she wasn't sure about. The worst possible scenario was that he came to do both. Then Konoha was in effect screwed. She was aware that someone was calling her name, but she really wasn't paying attention at all. She didn't have time for this sort of stuff anymore. This exam was a cover up. Of that she was 100% sure.

"Kato! You're up" Someone yelled to her. She looked up and could hear the mumblings of the crowd. She gave a sigh. Her opponent was….. The bandaged guy from before. She didn't have time for this. She jumped from the balcony and landed on the ground lightly. She looked over at the proctor and waited for him to start. She could feel the eyes of the whole stadium fixed on her. She could hear people that were not from Konoha whispering about the blind ninja. The proctor signalled for the beginning of the fight and she turned to the man standing in front of her. He crooked his head sideways and laughed at her

" So finally, it comes to you and I, Kato" he said threateningly. Kato shook her head. This would be simple. She burst forward, moving one hand quickly in the signs she needed and threw a kunai with the other hand. Ass he dodged, she disappeared. To his left, a clone began a series of attacks. He focused on these, believing that this was in fact Kato. She on the other hand, appeared behind him and sent a wave of chakra through his body. He stood, paralyzed in front of her. She landed a hard kick to his head and he slammed against the wall, clearly out of the exam.

" He'll be lucky to stand up for a while…" The proctor said under his breath. Kato looked away began to walk away. She hadn't even worked up a sweat. 


End file.
